This past Spring, Mechanical Engineering students at the neighboring Johns Hopkins University collaborated with Danko Arlington to create a new and innovative drive train for their entry in this year’s 2014 SAE Baja competition.
The students designed five custom components in CAD, then consulted the foundry to establish parting lines, fillets, draft, and shrinkage for sand casting the parts in A365.0-T6 aluminum. After Danko Arlington 3-D printed the loose patterns in polycarbonate plastic, the JHU Baja Team road tripped to the company to hand sand, paint and loose mold each component. Needless to say, the exposure to state-of-the-art additive manufacturing and the foundry industry was an unforgettable experience for the up and coming engineers!
This year’s race was hosted on June 6th by the Central Illinois section of SAE in Peoria Illinois. According to JHU Baja Team member Nate Schaumbach, “The car performed an impressive feat by running 3 of the 4 hours of the endurance race, only stopping for gas and minor repairs. The castings were great for design and really gave us a leg up for our sales presentation as well.”
The JHU Baja Team is already excited about designing castings for next year’s entry as well as hosting the national collegiate event in Baltimore.
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